Costa Blanca

It will be illegal for ‘hippie market’ to relocate to the harbour promenade in Alicante without facing penalties

People who work at La Explanada’s traditional craft market, who are often called ‘hippies’, won’t be able to move their stands directly to the second queue of the port walkway, next to the Fish Market building. As of last week, the vendors’ group, the Association of Vendors of the Explanada (AVE), asked the Alicante City Council, led by the Popular Party (PP), to move the shops as soon as possible. They say that this can’t happen until the vendors are given permission to use the space.

In fact, this request was made again this Tuesday when a new document was registered stating that 15 of the merchants want to move to the new location. This is to make sure that any possible punishments don’t happen until the stalls can be moved directly, without having to be taken apart and put back together again.

The deputy mayor and spokesperson for the governing team, Manuel Villar, said that the eviction process will not change. This was said in the weekly public appearance where the agreements made in the Local Board are announced. So far, he has said that the administrative process for carrying out the October plenary agreement is still going as planned. This means that the deadlines set out in the notice sent to all the stall holders, telling them they needed to take down their stands from the tourist promenade by this Tuesday, will still apply. If that doesn’t happen, the notice also said that the City Council would take it apart in a secondary way, with the latest date being February 24. The sellers would then have to pay for these costs, which the city believes will be around 33,000 euros.

In addition, this notice would mean that penalties would be used for every day that the stalls were not taken down. According to Villar in the same public appearance, this is where proportionality criteria could be used, taking into account the fact that the amounts of these penalties could be changed depending on things like giving advance notice of the decision to leave the promenade and confirming the exact date on which this would be done.

Meanwhile, the vendors who have already said they want to move to the second queue of the Paseo del Puerto are still working on registering their request for permission with the Port Authority. They hope to have all the paperwork they need this Wednesday so they can officially make their request. In this way, the group hopes that the permission can be given before the 24th, so that the City Council doesn’t have to move them out against their will. At the same time, some shop owners who had already said they were going to stop selling things continued to do so on Tuesday by taking down their stands voluntarily.

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Costa Blanca

Missing Persons Association searching for Stiven, 26, who disappeared from Elche

The SOS Missing Persons Association has issued an urgent alert concerning the disappearance of Stiven Manrique Penagos, a 26-year-old man who vanished on April 18, 2025, in Elche, Alicante.

Stiven is of typical build, stands at a height of approximately 1.70/1.72 metres, and has dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. Due to his vulnerability, they have prioritised his disappearance, and they are requesting public assistance to locate him as soon as possible.

The organisation is urgently looking to hear from anyone with any information of his whereabouts.

If anyone has information regarding his whereabouts, please contact info@sosdesaparecidos.es or call 649 952 957 and 617 126 909.

Regarding SOS Missing Persons

Sosdesaparecidos is a non-profit association established in Caravaca de la Cruz that collaborates in the dissemination of information about missing persons of any age whose families do not know what happened or where they are.

The goal of the 32 men and women on the SOSdesaparecidos team is to assist families by utilising their personal and professional experiences.

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Alicante TRAM collected 2,494 lost objects in 2024

Last year, Alicante TRAM passengers lost a total of 2,494 objects, which the Valencian Railways (FGV) collected. This data suggests that passengers abandon an average of seven artefacts daily and 208 objects monthly. These objects are stored at the stations for a minimum of one month and for an additional month in the lost property storage facility at Luceros station. The Alicante Local Police then receive the items if their proprietors have not claimed them after this period.

Wallets and purses, keys, backpacks, documents (ID, passports, driving licences, health cards, etc.), mobile phones, spectacles, folders, umbrellas, and handbags are the items that are seen on trains and trams in Alicante and its metropolitan area the most frequently.

October (442), January (393), November (378), June (366), March (308), April (303), August (296), July (291), May (286), December (276), February (263), and September (199) were the months in which the most items went missing, proceeding with the division by season.

The recovery of an object by its owner while it is registered with FGV amounts to 929, or 37.25%, thanks to the protocols established by FGV for the management and safekeeping of lost objects. The remaining percentage is either handed over to the Alicante Local Police or taken to a recycling centre or green point if the objects are clearly worn or deteriorated.

The time required to retrieve an item is contingent upon the presence of any identifying information or the customer’s claim. When there’s identifying information or a customer’s claim, we often recover the item the same day it goes missing, especially if it’s valuable.

Steps to be taken

In the initial phase, lost property is dropped off and picked up at the stations served by FGV personnel before being transferred to the central office at Luceros station.

After one month, the items are collected and transported to the lost property facility at Luceros station to attempt to identify their owner, deregister them for recycling based on their condition, or deliver them to the Alicante Lost Property Office after an additional month.

They promptly hand over official documents, such as passports and ID cards, to the authorities to determine their owner, then destroy bank cards to mitigate unnecessary risks and prevent tampering. Customer service personnel conduct follow-up and minor investigations to ensure their return to the police.

Amazing objects

In addition to the previously mentioned items, there are several remarkable items that it’s hard to imagine users would overlook. These items include bicycles, scooters, suitcases, crutches, walking sticks, laptops, tablets, baby strollers, shopping carts, motorcycle helmets, portable refrigerators, toiletry bags, umbrellas, hair dryers, X-rays, prescriptions, medical reports, a construction shovel, a shower telephone, and even a toilet seat or fire extinguisher.

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Firefighters rescue hiker after fracturing her leg in fall in Dénia

Members of the Provincial Fire Consortium rescued a 40-year-old woman on Monday, April 21st, on the climb to Cova del Aigua in Dénia after she fractured her leg in a fall while hiking.

The alert was received at around 12:48 p.m., and an Alpha 01 rescue helicopter and the Special Rescue Group (GER) were dispatched to the scene, the Consortium said in a statement.

Since the woman was at a point where the ambulance could not reach due to the terrain, the rescue helicopter was activated with the GER.

Once located, the officers disembarked from the helicopter and brought her back to San Vicente Park, where an ambulance was waiting. The operation ended at 4:04 p.m.